Agar brothers take backyard to big stage

A battle between brothers held thousands of times in their backyard played out in the BBL for the first time in WACA clash

Louis Cameron, at the WACA
26 January 2018

Playing cricket in the driveway of their house on a quiet suburban street in Melbourne's south-east, the Agar brothers dreamed they were in the middle of the MCG wearing Baggy Greens and 100,000 people cheering them on.

Ashton Agar's dream that he will one day play alongside his younger brothers Will and Wes has not yet come to fruition. Even in junior cricket, the age gap between the trio meant they never played in the same side.

The Agar family at Ashton's Test debut in 2013 // Getty

While that dream remains a distant aspiration for now, on Thursday evening Ashton and Wes lived out a scenario that brought just as much pride to the Agar clan, becoming just the second set of brothers to play against each other in the KFC BBL since Mike Hussey (Sydney Thunder) and his younger sibling Dave (Melbourne Stars).

With mum Sonia watching on nervously and Wes steaming in to bowl to Ashton, they could have been back in Bentleigh – if it wasn’t for the 22,355 Perth Scorchers fans, filling out the WACA for its Big Bash swansong, cheering on the elder Agar.

Wes and Ashton Agar at the WACA // cricket.com.au

"We were talking it up all last night – we had dinner together," Ashton told cricket.com.au. "Mum has flown over as well to come and have a look. She's the emotional one.

"It was hilarious. (Wes was) talking tactics about how he was going to get me out, all this rubbish. It was good fun out there.

"It certainly did (feel like the backyard) when he was running in to bowl. You're absolutely spewing (if) you get out in the backyard as well. It felt exactly the same, which is really nice.

"It brings us all back down to earth, it puts the fun back into the game."

Match wrap: Scorchers take top spot in thrilling win

The Agar-v-Agar duel turned out a stalemate – Ashton managed two singles off the two deliveries he faced from his brother – as BBL wonderclub Perth bid farewell to the WACA with a tight final-over victory and secured top spot over Wes' Adelaide Strikers.

Playing his first game of this BBL season, Wes had a feeling a showdown with his more experienced brother was on the cards.

"I got told I wouldn't be bowling in the first six (overs) before the game so I had an inkling at that stage," the 20-year-old explained to cricket.com.au after finishing with 0-26 from his three overs.

"I actually thought he was coming out earlier than he did. When they were four-down, I was like, ‘I'm definitely going to bowl to him’.

"I was trying not to get hit for a boundary. I was just trying to get onto his hip and give him a one and get him off strike."

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As Ashton has established himself as one of the country's most promising spinners – and one of the KFC BBL's leading players this season – Wes too looks to be making his mark.

The youngest Agar brother moved back to Melbourne this summer after a brief stint in Adelaide, but his BBL loyalties remain with the Strikers, who are set to ask him to fill the oversized shoes of towering speedster Billy Stanlake when he joins Australia's T20 squad next week.

Ashton will also be on Australia T20 duties throughout the BBL Finals, which means the brothers will have to wait for an on-field rematch.

Veteran Voges gives fans one last WACA special

"This is our first time (playing against one another), it's a big deal for us," said Ashton, who made 7 and took 0-30 against the Strikers.

"We certainly dreamt of playing together one day – now we're playing on opposite teams in the same competition.

"It's what dreams are made of us this sort of stuff. I'm so proud of him."

Louis Cameron is a Melbourne-based journalist. A former Victorian Bushrangers fast bowler, Louis joined the cricket.com.au team with assistance from the Australian Cricketers' Association's Internship Program in 2016.